Tuesday, November 11, 2008

Clinical Rejection from BLR (Twice)

Yesterday, I received two (count them: 2) rejections from BLR's Literary Prize: one in fiction and one in nonfiction. Here they are:

Dear Writer, Rejected

Thank you for submitting your work for the Bellevue Literary Review's literary prizes. We appreciate the efforts that have gone into this piece.

We were impressed by the enthusiastic response from the writing community. The volume was such that, unfortunately, a great deal of quality work had to be rejected. Please be assured that your piece was read thoroughly and given careful consideration. A list of contest winners may be found on our website, www.BLReview.org.

We wish you luck in placing this piece elsewhere, and apologize for not being able to offer a more personal reply.

Sincerely,

The EditorsBellevue Literary Reviewwww.BLReview.org

NOTE: Please do not reply to this e-mail -- we are unable to respond personally to messages sent to this address.

AND AGAIN:

Dear Writer, Rejected

Thank you for submitting your work for the Bellevue Literary Review's literary prizes. We appreciate the efforts that have gone into this piece.

We were impressed by the enthusiastic response from the writing community. The volume was such that, unfortunately, a great deal of quality work had to be rejected. Please be assured that your piece was read thoroughly and given careful consideration. A list of contest winners may be found on our website, www.BLReview.org.

We wish you luck in placing this piece elsewhere, and apologize for not being able to offer a more personal reply.

Sincerely,

The EditorsBellevue Literary Reviewwww.BLReview.org

NOTE: Please do not reply to this e-mail -- we are unable to respond personally to messages sent to this address.

2 comments:

I just received the most wonderful personal rejection from the BLR - kind, thoughtful, with concrete and constructive ideas for improving the story.

In some ways, a good rejection is better than an acceptance. Maybe I just have a strong case of the don't-want-to-join-any-club-that-accepts-me blues....but as soon as a literary magazine says YES I remember all the times I read something lousy in their pages and thought "well if that's what passes for literature these days...." Suddenly it occurs to me that maybe I'm too good for that journal. And then that story is gone - out of my hands, published - and all hope for greatness goes with it.

Ah, but the "you almost made it!" It means they actually have standards and you are a good enough writer to have almost met them. "Your story was in the editor's backpack!" "You were in our final top ten!" You can imagine someone reading your story - loving it - fighting with their colleagues over its merits - reading it again and again, trying to decide if your Angolan contortionist is a more compelling main character than the other guy's anorexic dwarf. That's a beautiful feeling.

So I love the editors of the BLR. This week, anyway.

(Yes, it helps that the story was already accepted elsewhere. I sent them a retraction but I guess they missed it.)

Rules of the Game

4) Be nice to one another. The world is already overpopulated with asses.

Guess What?

After 15 years of rejections (most of them posted here along with all the rejections you've sent me over the years), my novel is getting published by a literary press. Little third-gendered me will soon have a book you can read for yourself and see if the hundreds of rejections were misguided or not. For more on the matter, read this post and this one too.

People Magazine Picks Miracle Girls

What the What? (This is actually for real.)

ew.com blog review

"Failure is the New Funny. Whether you're a writer ... or a bookworm ... Literary Rejections on Display is worth checking out."

Huff Po Compliment

"A highly entertaining blog."

The Millions Assesses

"An answer to what to do with your rejections: throw them away, but first, complain about them on the internet!"

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"A reminder of the competitive pressures that help drive some authors to start plagiarizing and making things up."

GALLEYCAT Chimes In

"Excellent blog."

The Boston Phoenix Rises

"Might we suggest whiling away the hours with Literary Rejections On Display? We've been hooked for the last couple of weeks..."

Psych Today Puts LROD On The Couch

"An author who, like the rest of us, experiences many more rejections than acceptances."

Blogher Offers a Female Nod

"And since something isn't really something until there's a blog about it, I give you Literary Rejections on Display."

Poets & Writers Questions LROD

"Isn't it part of the writer's job to learn from--rather than reject--rejection?"

HTML GIANT Confesses

"I am sort of addicted to this site. I go through phases: I check it regularly, then I stop myself and ignore it for several months. Then I remember it again and sift through its wreckage."

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"Deliberately composed of unpublished individuals who wear their rejection slips as badges of integrity."

Cape Cod Times Gets the Joke

"Caschetta’s wit sparkles in “Literary Rejections on Display,” a humorous and intelligent look at the literary world"